How does God work in me on days of spiritual paralysis? . . . The Holy Spirit comes through the simple gospel—the power of God.

Today is a day I struggled. Perhaps you have had days like that too. It's hard to get going. The problems and challenges seem to be the same as they were yesterday and the day before. No improvement, just endless effort. Then when we take a step forward, it seems we take two back. On days like this, sometimes I simply stare blankly either at the computer screen or out the window.

Not everyone identifies with such days. Some seem to bound forward, confident, energetic, and tireless. Some days such energetic Christians only increase the guilt that settles over those who struggle just to get going. Have you asked yourself, "Why am I such an energy-challenged Christian?" Perhaps more serious questions come to mind: Has God abandoned me? Am I really a Christian?

Even the apostle Paul had such thoughts. He might never have asked those serious questions, but he did have his internal struggles. "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:18,19). Did Paul stare blankly—certainly not at a computer screen but perhaps at the sea or the grass blowing in the wind?

At least he was honest about what he knew was inside of him and also within every Christian. No, God has not abandoned us on those days of inactivity and spiritual paralysis. His grace remains constant. Jesus' blood still cleanses us. The water of Baptism hasn't become ineffective; we are children of God and heirs of eternal life. Remember, God doesn't love us more because we do more. Grace doesn't work that way.

I wonder if I have these days so that I might realize one brutal truth. My sinful nature makes me energy-challenged. Perhaps I have grown to think that I supply the strength and energy to do the Lord's work. Have you had those thoughts too? A kind of pride in your accomplishments and successes? Then when such days come, you wonder what happened. Where did your energy go?

One might go the bookstore and pick up a book on ten principles of spiritual life or some other how-to book outlining steps to achieve greater effectiveness in your walk as a Christian. These books provide rules and methods for achieving a superior Christian status in the church and with God. But the power still must come from within, and the approach only makes me appear more like a failure.